


Say It Clearly

by gh0stberry



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 13:35:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7847122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gh0stberry/pseuds/gh0stberry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His stomach begins to sink as he contemplates the idea that he might’ve been stood up. And by <i>Tsukasa</i>, no less. Not a very gentlemanly thing to do, if he’s being honest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Say It Clearly

**Author's Note:**

> i wanted to post one more thing before my senior year starts (tomorrow) and this was the only thing i had ready so here take this? and if u dont follow me on twitter and dont know already, i ship tsukasa with pratically every enstars character so expect more tsukasa fics hopefully..... maybe.....

Tori stands alone on the roof, fingers fisted in the bottom of his blazer. His legs quake slightly, no matter how much he tries to stop them, and his heart remains firmly lodged in his throat. There aren’t any clocks in his line of sight, but it doesn’t really matter. He can practically see the seconds ticking away in his mind.

Five… four… three… two… one…

The bell chimes five times, just like he knew it would. Tori frowns, shifting his weight onto his right foot. It’s not like Tsukasa to be late, and if Tori loiters for too long, Hajime might come look for him and scold him for ignoring his student council work. Again. His stomach begins to sink as he contemplates the idea that he might’ve been stood up. And by _Tsukasa_ , no less. Not a very gentlemanly thing to do, if he’s being honest. Before Tori can really get angry though, the door to the school roof creaks open, revealing one slightly breathless Tsukasa Suou. 

“You’re late!” Tori all but shrieks at his fellow third year, who stands bent over in the doorway to catch his breath. He must’ve run up the stairs, because when he looks up at Tori, his cheeks are slightly flushed. Tori feels his heart skip a beat.

“Tori-kun?” Tsukasa looks confused. He fishes a small scrap of paper out of his pocket, looking between it and Tori for a few seconds before stepping forward and finally letting the door close behind him. “Did you send me this note?” Tsukasa tips his head to the side. His eyebrows scrunch together a little, and a small part of Tori loathes himself for wanting to reach out and smooth them out again. _You’re on a mission, Tori!_

“Why didn’t you just talk to me in class?” Tsukasa asks. “I sit right behind you. Is turning around really that hard?”

“T-this isn’t the kind of thing I can just blurt out in class, okay! It’s a private matter!” Tori feels himself beginning to flush under Tsukasa’s scrutiny, but he resists the urge to argue. Just this once, he’ll ignore Tsukasa’s unintentional barbs. This is important, after all.

Tori forces himself to take a deep breath, draws his shoulders up, and stands up as straight as he can. Tsukasa may be physically taller than him, but Tori will make up for it with his presence. He’s the student council president now, and even though his stomach is twisting itself into knots and his legs desperately want to shake again, he refuses to give in.

Tsukasa slips the paper back into his pocket and looks Tori in the eye. He has to squint a little in the setting sun, but he’s also looking down at Tori, so it’s not like he can’t see him at all. 

“Tsukasa,” Tori starts, sounding much more confident than he actually feels.

“Yes?” Tsukasa answers, face wide and earnest, and Tori almost falters.

“Um,” he stalls, cursing himself internally. _Just say it, Tori! How can you call yourself a Himemiya if you can’t even speak when you need to!_ “So, the reason I called you up here is…” he turns his head, finding it easier to speak while eyeing Tsukasa in his peripheral vision. Tsukasa is silent, expectant. “I wanted to tell you something… I like you.” It comes out sounding like a question.

Tsukasa stares at him for a few moments, eyebrows drawing closer and closer together. “Hadn’t we already established this, Tori-kun?”

“What?” Tori chokes out.

Tsukasa huffs and crosses his arms. _Is he pouting?_ “I thought we’d agreed when Tenshouin onii-sama graduated to stop being childish and grow up? We also agreed that we could stop pretending to hate each other, unless you forgot? That’s just like you, Tori-kun.” Tsukasa shakes his head, but the corners of his lips are twitching enough for Tori to know he’s teasing.

Indignation and embarrassment war inside Tori. He turns back to look Tsukasa full in the face, taking a step forward as if to grab Tsukasa by the collar and shake him.

“Not like that!” he huffs, red in the face. “Like… I’m _in love_ with you! Ugh, making me repeat myself like that! You suck, Tsukasa!” Oh God why did he do that? He used the word love, he told Tsukasa he was _in love with him_. And then he told him he sucked! 

Tori’s stomach churns. This is completely uncharted territory. And he was completely alone, without Hajime to back him up or Yuzuru to step in front of him or Tenshouin to cradle him if it backfires spectacularly like he’s so sure it will. 

Tori snaps back to reality as Tsukasa makes a stuttering noise. “Tori-kun, where did this come from?”

“What do you mean, ‘where did this come from’? Y-you were the one _flirting_ with me for the past year! Like all those times you helped me reach things that were on a high shelf, or when you’d carry paperwork to the student council room for me, or…” Tori trails off, watching Tsukasa’s face change. He’d had a blank look on his face when Tori started talking, but the longer Tori went on, the more flustered Tsukasa seemed to get. Currently, he looked somewhere between sheepish and terrified.

“Tsukasa…” Tori starts again, cautious. Tsukasa swallows hard, cheeks rosy and weak smile frozen on his face.

“That… was not my intention, Tori-kun. Um, I am sorry to mislead you. I was only trying to be polite,” Tsukasa admits, lacing his fingers in front of him and looking down, avoiding Tori’s gaze.

“Oh,” Tori mutters, shoulders drooping and eyes dropping to Tsukasa’s hands. “Oh. Well, okay then. Fine, so you don’t like me. Whatever. Sorry to bother you, I guess.” Disappointment wells up fast, making his eyes sting and his breath come faster than he’d like, and in that moment too, Tori hates himself for letting his emotions get the better of him. No matter how much he tries to hide it, it’s obvious that he’s upset. He’s the goddamn emperor for pete’s sake, he shouldn’t be showing his emotions like this! He has to look cool, collected, put together, for his own sake as well as for the sake of the academy.

Tori steps forward, making for the door as fast as he can. He is moments away from freedom, fingers already opening to grip the door handle, when Tsukasa grabs him by the sleeve and stops him. 

“Wait, Tori-kun.”

Tori turns slowly, eyeing Tsukasa warily. Some small part of his mind wonders what kind of face he’s making now. Whatever it was, it must really be something, because this is the first time Tori’s seen Tsukasa so nervous since their first year.

“Ah… I didn’t say I didn’t like you,” Tsukasa mutters, voice barely loud enough to hear. Tori has to lean in, practically burying his nose in Tsukasa’s shoulder, to hear him. “And this whole misunderstanding is my fault so… I mean, as a knight, I should take responsibility…”

As soon as the words click in Tori’s mind, he’s stepping forward and shoving a finger into Tsukasa’s chest. “T-that’s right, Tsukasa!” he says fiercely, poking him lighting, letting a triumphant smile play across his lips. “How are you going to take responsibility, hm?”

Tsukasa flushes as he scowls and bends down until he’s nose to nose with Tori. Tori takes the unspoken challenge, eyes blazing and smirking.

“I don’t know, Tori-kun. You’re the emperor aren’t you, don’t you have anything in mind…?” Tsukasa breathes. The words are barely out of his mouth when Tori grabs him by the tie and yanks him forward, their lips meeting in what is objectively probably going to be known as the worst kiss of Tori’s life. Neither of them had had any time to prepare, and so the kiss is entirely too wet, not to mention the fact that their teeth knocking together is actually kind of painful.

They pull apart almost immediately, both of them red in the face. Tsukasa brings his hand up, wiping his mouth on the back of it, but his twisted expression quickly dissolves into laughter. “What… what was _that_ , Tori-kun, that was horrible–”

“Oh, like you can do better!”

“Bet I can.” There’s a glint in Tsukasa’s eye as he drops his hand and smirks down at Tori, looking just confident enough to piss him off.

“Prove it,” Tori challenges, and before he can process it, Tsukasa is cupping his face in his hands and pulling him forward into another kiss.

This time it’s softer, gentler. Tsukasa moves slow, slotting his lips against Tori’s like puzzle pieces, and Tori can’t stop himself from sighing into the kiss.

He doesn’t know how long they stay like that before Tsukasa pulls away, but Tori misses the feeling almost as soon as it’s taken away from him. He pouts, grabbing onto Tsukasa’s blazer to keep him in place. Tsukasa’s hands drop to his shoulders, wrapping around him in a loose hug.

“Tsukasa?” Tori murmurs, leaning forward and resting his chin against Tsukasa’s chest. It’s a little awkward, looking up at him like this, but it’s okay. “Does this mean you _do_ like me?”

“Hm…” Tsukasa tips his head back a little, staring at the reddish-purple sky above them. “Who knows~. I don’t mind kissing you though, maybe we should keep this up?” He brings his head down again to look at Tori, lips twitching a little as he tries not to laugh.

“Hmph,” Tori mutters, spirits rising at Tsukasa’s ambiguous confession. “Suit yourself.”

Tsukasa smiles, bringing one hand forward and cupping Tori’s chin, tilting it up toward himself. “Tori-kun, I’m going to kiss you again.”

“No way.” Tori grins back, throwing his arms over Tsukasa’s shoulders. “I’m going to kiss you.” Then he’s on his tiptoes, leaning up to meet Tsukasa halfway.


End file.
